The Bank of Japan expanded monetary stimulus on Friday through a modest increase in purchases of exchange-rated funds, yielding to pressure from the government...

But the central bank maintained its base money target at 80 trillion yen (5 billion) as well as the pace of purchases for other assets including Japanese government bonds. (Reuters)

The Bank of Japan expanded monetary stimulus on Friday through a modest increase in purchases of exchange-rated funds, yielding to pressure from the government and financial markets for bolder action to spur growth and accelerate inflation towards its 2 percent target.

But the central bank maintained its base money target at 80 trillion yen ($775 billion) as well as the pace of purchases for other assets including Japanese government bonds.

It also left unchanged the 0.1 percent interest it charges to a portion of excess reserves financial institutions park with the central bank. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m.